The Full Typology

2. Fund and support women at the national level. Women’s gains in political leadership are being made largely at local levels. Programs could advocate for and support women politicians specifically at the national level.

3. Institute quotas. Cambodian political parties are cultivating a talented supply of female candidates; a national quota system could encourage political parties to put this knowledge and expertise to work.

4. Ensure higher education for women. The gender gap in government service is related to the gender gap in education, as senior government positions demand higher levels of education. Providing higher education programs to women could decrease the gender gap in government service.

5. Provide education. Providing higher education programs to women could, therefore, decrease the gender gap in government service.

Sustainable Development Goal #5

The Sustainable Development Goal #5 (SDG 5) calls for gender equality and full empowerment of women and girls by 2030. One of its targets is the political empowerment of women. Facts show that whereas political representation continues to increase in Africa, equal representation is not achieved in most African countries. When women overcome hurdles and gain political seats, they hardly lead the most important political positions.

Most striking, they get little influence and decision-making power in legislation and budgets allocation. Countries would benefit enormously from increasing the influence and decisionmaking power of female politicians. Giving more influence to female policy makers would help many African countries become more egalitarian and fair toward women and girls. Increased women’s political representation may help in the success of the SDGs, but only when representation comes with actual influence and leadership.

What is the issue? An estimated one in five women live with a disability. Historically, their equal participation and inclusion in society has been hindered by systemic marginalisation and structural barriers, which often lead to less access to: education, healthcare (including sexual & reproductive health), information, public services, justice as well as less participation in civic and political processes and decision making.

Women still represent a minority of decision-makers worldwide, and there is no official data on the representation of women with disabilities on decision-making.

Recognizing that women’s equal political participation and representation is key to achieving sustainable development, most countries in the world have agreed to reach ‘gender balance’ in decision making, including the 1995 Beijing Platform for action. Yet today, only 24% of the worlds parliamentarians are women. Only 6% are heads of state and 5% of heads of governments are women. In short, women’s voices are missing.

More than 10 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, significant gaps continue between commitments and action to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls with disabilities. Nonetheless, some women with disabilities are playing a prominent role in the public sphere, demonstrating their capacity and transformative role in political leadership.

UN Women’s programmes on leadership and political participation are guided by commitments to women’s representation, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) , which upholds women’s right to participate in public life, the Beijing Platform for Action which calls for removing all barriers to equal participation, and the Sustainable Development Goals which measure progress towards gender equality in part by the share of women in national parliaments and local government.

In coordination with national and UN partners, UN Women has supported the promotion of inclusive electoral processes and the political participation of women with disabilities. This support includes:

- Technical assistance to electoral stakeholders on promoting inclusive electoral arrangements and facilitating the participation of persons with disabilities (i.e: accessible voting procedure, facilities and materials);

- Capacity building, targeting electoral officials and aspiring women candidates with disabilities;

- Promiting civic and voter education encouraging general awareness on the political rights of persons with disabilities;

- Capacity building and sensitization of security forces to ensure that the needs of persons with disabilities, especially those of women, are considered when promoting a safe and conducive environment for people to exercise their political rights.

Objectives:

By the end of the activity, participants will be able to:

Know the best ways of getting women and young girls engaged in politics.

Know what political mentorship is. Know the role and purpose of mentorship.

Time Needed 1 Hour

Methodology Group discussion and facilitator presentation

Materials Flipchart, markers and paper

What strategies work?

This is focused on the actions that women in political parties can take individually and collectively to increase women’s substantive participation and gender equality in political parties.

To do so effectively, aspiring women politicians should focus on:

(a) Planning their political careers and promoting themselves through the ranks of politics; Building partnerships with other women and acting collectively on issues of mutual concern; and (b) institutionalizing gender equality in political party policies, processes and practices, as well as engaging men as partners and gender advocates.

Activity 7: Political mentorship

Objectives:

By the end of the activity, participants will be able to:

Time Needed

Methodology

Materials 1 Hour

Group discussion and facilitator presentation

Flipchart, markers and paper

What is political mentorship?

Political mentorship differs from traditional mentorship in that it is accomplished without the close personal contact that accompanies more traditional mentorship.

However, political mentorship accomplishes the same goal: it allows the follower to move from political adolescence to political adulthood.

Political adulthood is defined not as a function of age but rather an achievement of political maturity-that is the individual strength to resist societal coercion on issues involving a universal moral-ethical principle.

The purpose of mentorship

A mentor may share with a mentee (or protégé) information about his or her own career path, as well as provide guidance, motivation, emotional support, and role modelling.

The mentor may help a mentee with exploring careers, setting goals, developing contacts, and identifying resources.

Three key roles of a mentor

1. Role 1: Consultant. This is the most obvious role for a mentor to play.

2. Role 2: Counsellor. Listen.

3. Role 3: Cheerleader.

Key Note

In the private sector, mentorship programs have been proven successful in creating a new generation of leaders. The public sector learnt from these successes and copied them by organizing its own mentorship programs. Consequently, some parliaments followed suit by providing mentorship programs for incoming MPs or programs that allow people to shadow an MP in their daily functions to better understand the work of the Parliament and of that particular MP and their constituency.

Given the complexity of Parliament, candidates and first time Parliamentarians are keen to get advice from those who have previous experience with particular issues. Mentorship programs have been organized at national and regional levels. At the national level, parliaments are exploring new ways of guiding young MPs through the complex structures of Parliament. At the regional level, Parliaments are providing mentorship projects, which go beyond the traditional study trip tours, through online networks and intensive collaboration between parliamentarians.

Objectives:

By the end of the activity, participants will be able to:

Understand the state of WPP in Africa.

Have tips on how to increase WPP in Africa

Time Needed

Methodology

Materials 1 Hour

Group discussion and facilitator presentation

Flipchart, markers and paper

Steps

Welcome participants to Activity 7: the State of WPP in Africa and review some of the key points covered during the previous activities;

Review the Objectives: of Activity 7 with the participants. Explain that in this module they are going to identify what is important to them and how they can use it to grow and move ahead. This activity will focus on the State of WPP in Africa.

Have participants think about the State of WPP in Africa and give one example of their own, pair with another and share their work;

Share with participants the personal development for women task referring to the handout and make the participants think about their home country.

The state of WPP in Africa

Women have always been involved in political organisations, as well as in the trade union movement and other civil society organisations. In recent decades women’s political representation has significantly increased in Africa. From 2000-18, the proportion of women parliamentarians almost doubled, and women’s representation in the cabinet increased fivefold to 22 per cent between 1980 and 2015. Women parliamentarians rose from 40 per cent in 2014 to 46 per cent in 2019. Rwanda, Namibia and South Africa are ranked in the top 20 countries that have worked hard at reducing the gender gap (World Economic, 2020). Unfortunately, the numbers do not necessarily imply influence. Women’s political representation in Africa is more descriptive than substantive.

Women represent almost half of the population in Africa, and yet they are the least likely to hold political positions and exercise authority across the continent. Often, female politicians in Africa overcome many barriers and constraints to access political positions. But once there, many of them have little decision-making power or are excluded from important government decisions on legislation, policies and budget allocation.